Today I listened live to the last (for now) Kate Valentine UFO show. I say “for now” because I know that Kate and friends (myself included) have an abiding interest in astronomy, unidentified aerial phenomena and the true nature of reality. I am the first to admit that the true nature of reality may surpass human understanding and whether UFOs come from other planets, other dimensions, other times, all three or a (non)place beyond the time space continuum, we will stay engaged with the larger subject.

I’m sending a big “Thank You” out to Kate and her crew: Dave at the station, Bill and Carrie and other guests with whom I have had the pleasure to interact, in person and remotely. I have learned much about the theories of other ufologists, both in and out of the mainstream, some of whom I probably never would have discovered without the show. My week will be a bit less fun without the Kate Valentine UFO Show to listen to on Fridays. But I raise a symbolic glass to further adventures in the future with Kate and the crew.

I’m including underneath some links for the Kate Valentine UFO Show. I hope they stay active.

If you are a skeptic regarding life beyond the Earth and/or UFOs, suspend disbelief for a few moments and ponder the possibilities. If an alien race were to contact or visit our planet Earth with whom would they (or it) want to communicate? This would depend on several factors.

Certain people who study such things are drawn to the hypothesis that all evolution across the Galaxy, and perhaps across the Universe would follow a similar pattern. This hypothesis is bolstered by yet another hypothesis called panspermia. According to this theory, life is seeded throughout the galaxy by objects (often and most prominently comets) flying through the cosmos. When a comet, composed largely of ice, passes close to a star, a tail or coma is generated due to the gravitational and magnetic force of the star. The coma is the visible part of the matter ejected from the comet. The matter ejected could contain dormant spores and viruses which over time, as the planets circle their star, may rain down on them in small quantities when the planets pass through the trajectory of that comet. (Please read about the theory of panspermia by Hoyle and Wickramasinge.) So if all life originated on different planets from these same building blocks it might be expected to follow a similar pattern. I find this to be an attractive hypothesis but it has not been definitively proven.

It is plausible that there are several evolutionary paths that cause life to form on different planets. There could be a pathway that uses methane as a main building block or silicon in place of carbon. There could be life forms which neither breath nor respire. The possibilities are virtually limitless and depend on how we define life. Does life require breathing, breeding or consciousness; or all three?

Earth as viewed from NASA’s Apollo 8 mission. (courtesy of NASA)

Then we come to the question of size and purpose. The size of the beings would probably be in some way related to the gravitational force of the planet on which they evolved. If the beings chose to communicate with Earth from afar, size would not be a major factor. Purpose, however, would be. Since the first episodes of Star Trek, ufologists and other interested folks have been entranced by the idea of a galactic federation of humanoid beings. Such an idea postulates that advanced alien races have banded together in some manner for the good of the Galaxy or Universe. With such a worldview or Weltanschauung, the alien beings wish us here on Earth no harm and may even be following some form of anti-interference code.

Other prominent ideas include aliens visiting our solar system in order to mine or retrieve elements or compounds unavailable on their home planet or galactic neighborhood. High on the list of things that some say the visitors may have come for are water and gold. Another less savory theory (for humans anyway) is that aliens may come to abduct, mutilate, enslave or consume us and our animal companions (cattle mutilations). Or maybe there are different aliens and inter-dimensional creatures visiting or communicating for different purposes.

In ufology circles, one often hears a comment to the effect that in order for the truth to be revealed about UFOs, a space ship would have to land on the White House lawn. I find this rather comical in an anthropocentric and Americocentric way. Why do we think other beings would want to communicate with the American government or any other human government? Why would they want to communicate with humans at all? We have done such a piss poor job of maintaining the Planet that we are likely to become largely extinct within the next two hundred years. Why not speak to the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) or cephalopods (squids and octopi)? Both groups have highly intelligent member groups and the cetaceans appear very peace loving. Perhaps the visiting alien race has a “group mind” and certain insects such as ants, bees or termites would be the object of their communiques.

Or in a more sinister vein, suppose the world from which the strangers sprang never had a major asteroid collision? The dinosaurs were the dominant group on the Earth for more than 180 million years before the asteroid hit (theory) and wiped them out, far longer than humanity has been the dominant (and now over-populating) Earth species. I am not the first person to speculate that reptilians could be visiting, or insectoids, for that matter.

Any species capable of travelling or communicating across the light years of interstellar space would certainly be more technologically advanced than humanity, and could be sending out self replicating robots to do their dirty work (can you spell Greys? :-)) It is also possible that they have learned to communicate mind to mind and do not require radio waves (So much for SETI!) or other physical means of communication. Furthermore they could logically be capable of affecting our minds into seeing what they want us to see and be seen or not seen as they wish it. After all, octopi and other earth based life forms practice effective camouflage and they have never even invented the wheel.

But supposing these aliens wanted to communicate, who would they choose? I maintain that it would depend on their purpose. Benevolent aliens would not choose to communicate with violent beings who are destroying their environment unless they had a means by which to alter this rapacious behavior.

Fahrusha is a professional intuitive who thinks a lot about cosmology.